House Bill 5 Arrives in Senate With Changes That Make It Even More Harmful
Last week, the House passed House Bill (HB) 5, a sprawling collection of tried-and-failed policies that will increase incarceration, hardship...
Floor Amendment to HB 5 Proposes New Harmful Changes That Far Outweigh Attempts at Making Bill Less Harsh
The House is expected to vote on House Bill (HB) 5 today with a floor amendment from its primary sponsor. Rather than make the bill less harsh, nearly all of...
House Bill 5 Doubles Down on Ineffective Policies That Will Further Increase Incarceration and Hardship
This analysis was originally published on January 10. It was updated on January 22 to reflect the most recent version of House Bill 5. All Kentuckians should be able to...
The Money Is There and So Are the Needs: Preview of the 2024-2026 Budget of the Commonwealth
Introduction The General Assembly faces a critically important opportunity with the 2024-2026 Budget of the Commonwealth. A strong national economy has resulted in robust recent state revenue growth, but the...
More Than 300,000 Kentuckians Have Been Charged for Cannabis Over the Past Two Decades
Over the past two decades, as states around the nation have moved to decriminalize and legalize cannabis, more than 300,000 people in Kentucky have been charged with a cannabis-related crime,...
The Funding Gap Between Kentucky’s Wealthy and Poor School Districts Is Now Worse Than Levels Declared Unconstitutional
The difference in per-pupil funding between the state’s poorest and wealthiest districts now exceeds the level deemed unconstitutional by the Kentucky Supreme Court more than three decades ago. In 1990,...
Facts Don’t Support Economic Argument for Proposed Federal Prison in Letcher County
In the wake of last year’s devastating eastern Kentucky floods, the federal government reintroduced a previously defeated proposal to build a new Bureau of Prisons (BOP) prison and “prison camp”...
House Bill 3 Proposes Harmful, Regressive Policy Changes to Kentucky’s Juvenile System
A robust body of research shows that locking kids behind bars harms their mental and physical well-being, gets in the way of their education, makes them more likely to be...
SB 225 Proposes Much-Needed Changes to Kentucky’s Persistent Felony Offender (PFO) Law
For the last 40 years, Kentucky’s persistent felony offender (PFO) law has added decades to prison sentences of convicted Kentuckians, contributing significantly to Kentucky's much-too high incarceration rate. Advocates have...
Lawmakers Should Help Our Kids, Not Lock More Up in Failing Juvenile System
All children deserve a chance to succeed, even those who’ve made mistakes. But when we emphasize detention over the supports that we know make a difference for kids, their ability...